The Uruguayan Clasico is the oldest soccer derby in the world outside of the United Kingdom.

Born in 1900, the match sees Uruguay's two most popular teams, Club Nacional and Atletico Penarol, go head-to-head, more often than not to stake their claim the country's finest team.

The two teams have won a combined 97 of the 116 Uruguayan Primera División titles available since the league's inception (Penarol 50, and Nacional 47). They've also shared eight Copa Libertadores, Latin America's equivalent of the Champions League.

But it is more more than just longevity, success, and proximity that make this matchup one of the best, and most fierce, across the globe.

It has an iconic venue, home of one of the most important matches in football's history.

Getty/Robert Cianflone

The derby is always held on mutual ground at the Estadio Centenario — a 40,000 seater venue which held the first ever World Cup final in 1930, which was won by Uruguay.

Tickets are split evenly between the two sides, and though it is not the biggest venue, it's famed for its atmosphere.

Matches are often accompanied by pyrotechnics, smoke, showers of ticker-tape, and record-breakingly huge flags.

In 2011, Penarol fans showcased an astonishing 309-meter long flag, the biggest ever at a football match, though the record was broken two years later by a team in Argentina.

The Estadio Centenario has seen plenty of controversy over the years.

In 1949's "El Clasico de la Fuga" (Derby of the Escape), Nacional was trailing Penarol 2-0 at halftime and had also had two players sent off already. One of the red cards was given out after a player had thrown mud in the referee's face, according to Padre Y Decano.

Seeing no way back, the Nacional players and staff decided not to return to the pitch and instead climb out of the dressing room window during the break.

The press slammed Nacional for its unsportsmanlike conduct the following day, says Padre Y Decano, with one publication writing: "You have to know how to lose and fight to the end."

The match once resulted in a number of players being sent to jail

Getty/Miguel Rojo

Both teams had to play the Uruguayan Championship final in 2000 without a number of their key players.

That's because two weeks earlier when the sides also met, a huge fight erupted involving players and staff from both sides in the centre circle of the Estadio Centenario.

So violent was the brawl, it resulted in nine players — six from Penarol and three from Nacional — as well as Penarol coach Julio Ribas being arrested and taken to into custody by Montevideo police, according to ESPN.

A total of 17 players, including all those who were arrested, were suspended by The Uruguayan Football Federation (AUF) for their parts in the fight, missing the final as a result.

The violence has spilled outside of the stadium in recent years too

Getty/Pablo Porciuncula

Thankfully, any violence between Nacional and Penarol is confined mostly to the pitch, however there have been a number of high profile incidents since the turn of the century that have given a bad name to this formerly family friendly affair.

FourFourTwo reports that in April 2009, a Penarol fan shot and almost killed Hugo Munoz, a 33-year-old Nacional fan, less than a mile from the stadium.

Munoz was hit six times, and barely survived, while the unnamed suspect was charged with attempted murder.

Five years later amid a number of clashes between police and the two sets of fans, Uruguay's President at the time, Jose Mujica, chose to withdraw police presence from any and all games involving Nacional and Penarol due to fears over their safety, according to the BBC.

Police have since returned, but the violence hasn't stopped. In 2017, the derby was postponed due to clashes with police, while only last year, a Nacional fan was shot dead during the club's title winning celebrations, says ESPN.